Black and White
by StaringStars
Summary: Life isn't all blacks and whites, something Harry needs to learn now more than ever. Will Harry learn to accept the help that others have to offer? Harry and Ginny team up, against Harry's objections, to fight Voldemort and his Death Eaters.
1. And So It Begins

A sudden rainstorm hit Hogsmeade, sending Hogwarts students and residents rushing for shelter. None of them noticed the man who stood at the end of the street, watching them scurry about, trying to finish their shopping before they returned to the comfort of their homes. One really couldn't blame them, they were in a hurry, and he wasn't really a very interesting looking stranger. One girl however, did notice him; she was in her seventh year at Hogwarts, top of her class. Her name was Ginevra Weasley, Ginny for short, Ginny noticed things. Whether they were little things such as the fact that her mum's hair had begun to gray just a little, or big things, things like this stranger who seemed oddly familiar. She couldn't quite place what it was about him that prodded her curious nature but she knew that it was something important. Before she had a chance to think about the matter any further he disappeared. Shaking her head in frustration, she turned back towards her friends who were gesturing impatiently, and followed them into the three broomsticks.

------

The man who had caught Ginny Weasley's interest in the rainy Hogsmeade street really was a very remarkable man, even by wizarding standards. Ginny did know him, she was right about that, she just hadn't seen him in nearly four months. Harry Potter was the man's name and he was in Hogsmeade because Albus Dumbledore had summoned him for an important meeting at the school. As he made his way through the castle, towards Dumbledore's office, Harry thought back over the last few months. Things had definitely changed since his school days, sure, Harry was still the champion for the light and Voldemort was still trying to nurse his bruised ego by taking over the world.

"_Some people never give up_, Harry grumbled inwardly, _you'd think that losing once would be plenty for him, but no, had to have another go at it didn't he? Just can't stand the thought of going down in history as a failed psychopathic world domination obsessed freak. If your plans to conquer the world are thwarted, go home and create plans to destroy it."_

By now Harry had reached the to Dumbledore's revolving staircase and he uttered the password (Carpe Diem, a reflection of how desperate the times were becoming as his passwords had previously reflected the professor strange sweet tooth) before riding towards the door to Dumbledore's office. Knocking, Harry waited patiently until Dumbledore opened the door, smiling happily upon seeing who was on the other side.

"I'm glad you could make it old friend, come on in and tell me how things have been going for you since we last spoke."

"Old? You're one to be talking about age Albus, what are you, three hundred now?"

"I'll have you know that I'm a very spry hundred and ten, I could take you any day, so I suggest you watch yourself young pup." Dumbledore countered grinning as he hugged his former student.

"Yes, I'm sure you believe that, and to show what a nice guy I am I'll even let you keep right on believing." Harry replied, returning the hug and sitting down behind Dumbledore's desk.

Sitting in the chair that was usually occupied by students was a young miscreant who Harry supposed had been sent up by either Professor McGonagall or Snape.

"Your timing couldn't have been better, since you seem to be right at home where you are, you may advise me as to Mr. Abercrombie's punishment. Professor Snape sent him to see me, it seems he somehow managed to dispose of Mr. Filches cat." Dumbledore said, confirming Harry's suspicions.

"D'you have any proof that it was him? You may not realize it but I remember serving plenty of unwarranted punishments from the two of them."

"Oh yes, I most certainly do remember, one that comes to mind rather vividly was the time that you and Mrs. Weasley were accused of inappropriate displays of affection in a broom closet, although she still managed to overcome that particular scandal and become Head Girl. Argus Filch himself saw Mr. Abercrombie shove the cat into the Vanishing Cabinet that Misters Weasley and Weasley discovered during your fifth year." Dumbledore smiled from behind Abercrombie.

"Oh, well in that case I think that he should be given an award for special services to the school and fifty points for Gryffindor."

"Well Scruffy, now we know why you aren't the headmaster."

"Not that it'd really work out very well, it just wouldn't do to have a crush on one's headmaster and with my dad's good looks and my mum's abundant charm, well, suffice it to say, they'd be sorely tempted." Harry said, grinning cheekily.

"You are insufferable, Sirius and James would've been proud and though she would have sighed and rolled her eyes a lot, your mum would have particularly enjoyed it. Now, since it is nearly dinner time, I believe that we should get Mr. Abercrombie squared away with a punishment."

"Oh come on Al, She'll show up in a few weeks, and when she does I'm sure she'll go back to stalking people around like her usual genial self."

"True, why, only yesterday she followed me on my way to the loo. 'It was really rather embarrassing, especially when Filch tried to follow her, he was pounding on the door and made a remarkable fuss about his plans to string me up from my ankles. Mr. Abercrombie, you will be serving one detention with Professor Hagrid on Friday next and five points will be removed from Gryffindor house."

"Ah well, you can't have everything, eh Euan? Do try not to get caught next time, and please when you see her next, could you give her a nice hard kick from me?"

"Sure sir, no problem, I'd love to." Euan said grinning as he left.

"One would hope that he doesn't break the rules again, you shouldn't be encouraging his behavior, at least not in my presence."

"Oh, you were always good about going temporarily deaf when one of us said something we shouldn't have. Although maybe it was just your age catching up to you."

"As enjoyable as it is for you to be calling me old and deaf, I believe that we need to make our way to the great hall if we wish to eat." Dumbledore sniffed haughtily

"Sounds like a plan, lets go." Harry laughed as he and his former professor made their way towards the great hall.

-----

The Order members who were able to come to the meeting in Dumbledore's office began to gather and Harry watched them with interest from the corner in which he sat. There was professor McGonagall; he doubted if she had changed at all since she had begun teaching. Professor Snape, Harry seemed to have inherited his parent's dislike for the slimy potions master, nicknamed Snivellus by Harry's godfather and his dad. Mundungus Fletcher, Harry liked Dung, their resident criminal and friend to the Marauders and Lily Evans. Remus Lupin, last remaining loyal Marauder, former teacher, resident werewolf, good friend. Hermione Granger, one of Harry's best friends, brilliant witch and the only one who had been even remotely capable of controlling Harry and Ron. Ronald Weasley, best friend, loyal companion, obsessive quidditch buff, brother to Ginevra Weasley. Harry was interrupted from his thoughts when the door was slammed, allowing the entrance of Alastor 'Mad Eye' Moody, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and Nymphadora Tonks.

"Now that we are all here, we seem to have hit something of a snag in our plans, Severus tells me that Voldemort has put all of his deatheaters on alert, he will offer a significant reward to anyone who can bring him the body of Harry Potter. He requests that Harry still be alive but gives them permission to use violence, he wants to have the privilege of finishing what he started seventeen years ago." Dumbledore announced gravely.

"Well, I probably could have told you that, I discovered the information the hard way when I was ambushed in my apartment a week ago. They really have no manners, not even so much as a knock on the door, rather inconsiderate." Harry grumbled irritably, surprising the other order members as he made his presence known.

"Harry, what are you doing here, I thought you were on a mission in Australia." Hermione blurted.

"I returned ten days ago, the Australian Minister of Magic agrees that something needs to be done and he has promised to extend our offer to some of his most trusted and talented Aurors, they will be given the choice of joining us or not."

"That's good, we need all of the help we can get, and those diggers are tough monkeys." Ron said enthusiastically.

"What are we going to do, we cant have you captured, with that many people out after you it's a wonder you're even here," Hermione asked irritably.

"Yes, I hear that they arent much for houskeeping and they haven't managed to perfect the art of hospitality, 's a bloody shame that is."

"Harry, how can you joke about this, we are talking about your life here-not some stupid quidditch game or house cup."

"Yes Hermione, I am perfectly aware of what we are talking about, I have faught more Death Eaters in the last four months than I would really like to meet. They aren't exactly subtle about it either, its not like we sit down for a cup of tea and chat about our families, the only reason I don't hide in a cupboard and wet myself until this is over is because I can make jokes about it! They don't take it easy on anyone and they are bloody terrifying, if my mind didn't go into autopilot when I'm under attack then I'd probably be rotting away in some dank cell or six feet under in the cold hard ground! Believe me I know exactly what we're talking about!" Hermione looked embarrassed and muttered an apology and Harry started to feel bad about yelling at her, he knew that she was just concerned about his welfare, he shouldn't have gotten angry.

Dumbledore cleared his throat before continuing "Well, now that we have that all cleared up, who has an idea as to what we should do?"

"Albus, if I may, Harry seems more than capable of taking care of himself. Why don't we continue with our current plans, we need to have cooperation from the Russian Embassy of Magic, they have some very strong ties and if we could get them on our side we would have yet another advantage over Voldemort."

"Thank you Moody, I'm glad that someone around here doesn't think I need a babysitter, when do you want me to leave for Russia?" Harry asked, turning to Dumbledore.

"We should have everything you will need in two weeks."

"Two weeks? It's never taken that long before, we need to get started as soon as possible, we can't let Voldemort get to them first." Harry argued, frustration evident on his face.

"The commencement exercises for seventh year students will be in one and a half weeks, at which point you will have a companion for your travels."

"What? I've never had a partner; I've always worked alone. Albus, you cant be serious, I don't want to have someone else to worry about if we are attacked, and this is not a safe little babysitting mission."

"I understand your feelings on the matter Harry, and I realize that you work quite well on your own but we will have to wait until after the meeting to discuss this further." The look in his eyes told Harry that the argument was closed for now.

--------

Harry, could you please stay behind, I need to speak with you about the next mission."

Harry sat down and waited as the other Order members slowly filed out of the room. When the last person was gone and the door closed, Dumbledore sat heavily in his chair and looked sadly at his former student.

"Harry, your new partner has been training hard all year on her own time and is quite ready to accompany you, she doesn't know yet that she will be accompanying you but I am certain that she will be a valuable asset. She is very talented in the art of healing and with your help she could become a remarkable duelist."

"I don't need a healer, I have always managed just fine on my own and I don't want to be a part of this, I would prefer that kids stay kids as long as they possibly can. There are already enough desensitized people in this world without adding her." Harry snapped irritably.

"You really don't have much choice in the matter, either you hand the mission over to someone else and risk letting them botch it up, or you accept that Ginevra Weasley will be accompanying you and do as you're told."

"But, Ginny, no, you can't send Ginny on this mission, its too dangerous." Harry spluttered

"I'm sorry Harry, but what Ginny does is entirely up to her, she is of age and she has the energy needed for this job."

"You're bleeding mental, the Weasley's have already given up everything for the order and now you are willing to take their only daughter as well?"

Dumbledore seemed slightly taken aback yet strangely pleased at this outburst.

"Yes Harry, they have indeed given their all, would you have Ginny feel like she is the only one who isn't out helping in any way she knows how? I know how frustrated you felt before you joined the order, think how she feels.

Harry hated it when Dumbledore gave such a good argument to such a bad idea. Glaring once again at his former headmaster, Harry slumped in his chair.

"I still don't agree with this, it's a bad idea and that wont change, but I'm not going to try forcing you to change your mind 'cause I'd still be arguing two weeks from now when its time to go. Is there anything else you need before I leave?"

"Yes, I would like you to work with her until you leave for the mission, I will provide a room for practice training as well as a place for you to stay as your flat is obviously not safe anymore."

"Fine, but that doesn't mean I agree with your plan, and I wont hide my feelings on the matter from her."

"I didn't expect that you would, come, I'll show you to your rooms."


	2. Training

**Disclaimer: _Nope, I don't own it, absolutely none of it at this point, 'cept maybe the storyline. 'Tis all the work of the brilliant mind of one J.K. Rowling (although I am still slightly miffed at said brilliant mind for her terrible crime against fandom-that crime being the murder of one Sirius Black)._**

**_-_**

Harry was angry, that much was obvious to Ginny when she arrived at the training room that they were to work in, she didn't need three guesses to figure out why but thought it better if she feign ignorance. She loved watching Harry train, she always had, he seemed to have a grace that most people didn't see, he almost seemed to be dancing with an invisible partner, his motions perfectly fluid. She was sure that he knew she was there but, like a good warrior, he didn't acknowledge her presence and continued thrusting and parrying with his sword as though it were a part of himself. Finally he ended with a blow that would have cleanly taken off an opponent's head.

"Nick would have loved for you to be his executioner, he's been downright depressed lately, still hasn't gotten into the hunt."

"You're early."

"I haven't seen you in four months, did you expect me to drag my feet?"

"Point taken, come on in, I wont be swinging this around anymore today." He said, putting his sword in its case and gesturing towards the middle of the room.

"How have you been, oh great writer of four letters in as many months."

"Good, at least until I attended a meeting last night and heard that a friend of mine was joining the Order. Why would she do something like that? I asked myself. The only answer I could come up with was that she'd gone completely bonkers and was due to be placed in a psych ward." Harry replied, looking at her pointedly.

"Or maybe it was because she wanted to do something to help in the war." Ginny replied, beginning to get angry as well.

"And why couldn't she do that as a Healer? Why does she think that she needs to join the most dangerous organization she could?"

"Because _maybe_ she wants to fight dark wizards, not just cure the few who live through an encounter."

"Did she ever stop to wonder how I would feel if she was killed? Even more important, how her family would feel, it would devastate them!"

"Maybe _you_ ought to stop and think about how she would feel if any of them died!"

"That is entirely different, I haven't really got much choice, if I must fight then I will, but if everyone I care about dies, then what is there for me to fight for?"

"How about for a better world, for those who cant defend themselves, what about preventing kids from becoming orphans. I know you hated growing up without your parents, don't you want to prevent anyone else from going through the hell that you did? My best friend's mum and dad were killed two months ago, I want to be able to do something, for her." By now Ginny's arguments had become pleas and tears were streaming from her eyes.

"Have you ever learned how to dance?" He asked, turning away as he removed his robes to reveal loose, lightweight clothing.

"I can waltz and two-step." Ginny replied, smiling, Harry wouldn't try to stop her from joining.

"Well, its time for something new, for the next week I will teach you how to _really_ dance. Combat, to most people, is a matter of brute strength. Over the next two weeks I am going to teach you how to fight and win against someone twice your size who has three times your knowledge of hexes. Fighting is about winning; the other person is the opposing team, your life the prize. If you value that prize you will give everything you have, and then give some more, you will do better than your best. A fight is like a dance, you must anticipate your opponent's every move, always think at least five steps ahead of him, know all possible outcomes and chose the one you want. Every day you will meet me for two hours before breakfast and three after dinner, you will eat what I tell you to eat and you will be prepared for anything I throw at you. You are to spend every waking moment testing your weaknesses and discovering your strengths. You will become the best and nobody will catch you by surprise. Moody says it best with CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" Harry barked the last bit making Ginny jump. "Now, lets get started."

Ginny climbed into bed that night, ready to collapse with exhaustion, since when had Harry become such a fanatic? She had known she would have to work hard but Harry acted as though he had to cram all of her training into those two weeks or die trying, surely someone else would finish her training when he left on his next mission. Ginny wondered briefly when she would be assigned her first mission and who her partner would be, Dumbledore hadn't mentioned anything and wouldn't until after she had graduated and become an official member of the Order. As she drifted into sleep, Ginny speculated about what Harry would have her do the next morning.

**_-_**

Ginny arrived five minutes late for their morning practice and began apologizing immediately as she rushed into the training room.

"If this was a battle and you were five minutes late I could have been lying in a pool of my own blood and you wouldn't be able to do anything about it, it would be hard to apologize to me if I was dead would it not?" Harry asked calmly, Ginny flushed and nodded. "Well, then I suggest that you arrive on time in the future, grab a mat and we'll meditate for fifteen minutes before beginning."

Harry was a maniac, there were no two ways about it, he was bloody mad. After the fifteen minutes of meditation they spent the next hour and a half throwing round paint-filled balls at each other and trying to dodge the others throws. Ginny had manage to hit Harry a grand total of three times while he had covered her from head to toe with the paint splotches that appeared upon impact. This frustrated her to no end and left Harry in a terribly amused. By the time they sat down to meditate she was thinking about the best way to kill him.

"You know, if you are going to kill me, you'll have to become a much better aim. Otherwise, the only way you'd succeed is with a lot of luck and ten friends to hold me still." Harry said, grinning without changing his meditative stance.

"You are an evil arse, you do know that, don't you?"

"'Tis an honor to be held in such high esteem milady."

"How did we get started on this topic?"

"I was trying to distract you from your homicidal thoughts, you see, I fancy living a bit longer and getting on your bad side is something I learned not to do long ago."

"How did you know that I was contemplating your demise?"

"I'm psychic." He said, grinning cheekily as he stood and began cleaning the training room.

"Psh, more like _psycho_. You cant lie to me, I saw your divination grades, I guess we should all be glad that you and Ron didn't possess the inner eye because otherwise we'd have all died some rather nasty deaths."

"You dare to mock the most noble of arts? Scandalous!"

"Oh shut up you idiot, what are we allowed to eat today, or are we allowed to eat?"

"Of course, you can eat three eggs, two pieces of toast, and aquarter-inch-thick slab of ham."

"What? How do you expect me to eat that much? I thought that by dictating what I eat you would limit my intake, not expand it, I'll get fat."

"Oh no you won't, trust me on this, I am going to work you so hard that you'll probably lose weight if anything. I suggest that you take my advice and eat all of it, if you don't then chances are that you'll pass out in the middle of exercises tonight, trust me when I say that you'll ravenous again at dinner time."

"Fine, but when I start looking like a blimp and can barely move, I'll be blaming you."

"That's fine, you can just roll over the top of the Death Eaters, that'd probably be more effective than trying to shoot little spells at them eh?" Harry suggested, smirking slightly, and dodging the hand she swung at him.

**_-_**

"Wow, I can't believe that this is my last day of Hogwarts, after today I'll never have to worry about being put in detention or staying up all night trying to finish an essay that's due first thing in the morning, I'm FREE!" Ginny prattled nervously as she flitted around her dormitory, gathering the last of her belongings for her very last ride on the Hogwarts Express.

"Yeah, you say that now, but wait till you hear who your new partner is going to be. As much as he is a great field agent, he is also very strict, I really don't envy you at all." Hermione said, grinning at her and looking extremely amused.

"I still can't believe that you wont tell me who my partner is. Although I suppose that no partner that they could stick me with will be as bad as Harry, I swear he's crazy, completely mad. Its probably a good thing that he works alone, I would pity the poor soul who would have to work with him." Ginny rolled her eyes, "I swear he doesn't know what fun is, does he even _take_ holidays, I wouldn't be terribly shocked if he spent all of Christmas filing paperwork."

"Nah, he doesn't like paperwork, he tends to flirt with the secretary in order to avoid it whenever possible. He actually makes a habit of getting smashed with Dumbledore, Remus, Kingsley, Tonks, and 'Dungus on Christmas. It is probably the most amusing thing I've ever seen, the six of them singing off-color Christmas tunes and dancing with anyone who'll hold still long enough, it's a sight to see if you ever get a chance."

"Wow, that sounds like an interesting party, the six of them are slightly mismatched don't you think?" Ginny laughed at the mental image that accompanied Hermione's story.

"Yeah, every so often Ron and a few of the others join in after returning from family celebrations, but mostly we all sit and watch them until one of them pass out, at which point we drag them off to their various beds. Anyway, you'll get a chance to see it next Christmas now that you are a member, now lets get you to the train station. I believe that your mum and dad are meeting you and taking you to headquarters where you'll meet your new partner."

**A/N**

**_I know that this chapter was slightly shorter than the last one, but I felt like I should end it or else it would be way too forced. Next Chapter they prepare for the Russian mission and Ginny learns a few new things. I promise to try having this story updated often enough that by the time Christmas comes along I will be writing about that time of year (That particular chapter will, of course, involve the drunken antics of our six of our favorite revelers and probably the accidental revealing of a secret or two). I am not sure how long this story will be but if it gets to feeling forced then I will definitely give it a merciful death, possibly even by beheading, I'll make sure that Harry is the executioner at such time so that it wont run into the problem that Sir Nicholas has. _**

**Nimbirosa-Thank you, you are now my favorite reviewer (we will forget the fact that you are my only reviewer and just pretend that I'm playing favorites. J/k **'**Tis an honor to have you reading my fic, I love your stories (at the moment I am deeply in love with your boxing day challenge _Its All Thanks to Anonymous_). Anyway, your support is much appreciated.**


	3. Of Spies and Such

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any related characters, locations, creature, buildings, etc. Nor do I own the Blue Duck Inn, which is an actual place and is located in Angler's Rest, Victoria, Australia. Anything else that you see in this story may or may not be original to my Imagination.**

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I already posted a chapter three with his title but after thinking about it for awhile, I realized that it was truly terrible. Anyway, this is a repost of chapter three and the first part is the same. However, I completely changed the ending in order to make it work better, hopefully it does.**

* * *

Chapter Three: _Of Spies and Such_

_. . . .About Six Months Later_

The door to room twelve of the Blue Duck Inn slammed open and the room itself was quickly swarmed with black-robed people. Not showing any particular care. The room's new occupants began rifling through its contents, slamming drawers, ripping cupboard doors from their hinges, and tearing apart mattresses. The leader of the group was a tall, dark haired woman whose cruel eyes shone with the contempt she felt towards her charges. Bellatrix Lestrange, trusted servant of the Dark Lord and thoroughly evil.

"Forget it, they have obviously left, you won't find anything of importance here."

"But if they were in a hurry, is it not possible that something was left behind?" One of the others inquired nervously.

"No, I know these two; we won't be finding anything here. Search for them in the remaining rooms and then burn it to the ground."

The man who had protested mumbled something quietly to his friend.

"What was that, Malfoy?"

"Nothing important." Draco replied sullenly.

"Really, then you should have no trouble repeating it, unless you need a little help loosening your tongue?"

Obviously realizing that his mouth had just gotten him into some trouble, Draco answered, watching her warily. "I was just wondering why it is such a big deal for us to catch these two people. We have tracked them over half of the world and we still haven't caught them after five months."

"I believe that Malfoy senior and I will be having a little chat soon about your insolence. However, as to catching this God-forsaken team, they are currently causing far too much trouble for My Lord's liking. These two have been put up on a pedestal by the fools who disagree with our beliefs and we believe that the man is none other than Harry Potter himself."

"Do our spies know who the girl is?" asked a timid female voice to Bellatrix's left.

"No, our spies have been unable to discover this information. However, it's only a matter of time; now get this place out of my sight!" She snarled and stomped out of the room.

* * *

Halfway across the world, the two people in question were approaching the Scottish wizard village of Hogsmeade to fill Dumbledore in on their latest mission.

"How in the _hell_ did those stupid idiots find us when half of them are too thick to string two words together without being prompted?" Ginny Weasley seethed, flailing her arms about angrily.

"I would assume that they were tipped off. Of course that is just a suspicion." Her partner, Harry Potter replied, raising an eyebrow at her wild antics.

"Well who? Who would have known that we were staying in that pub, let alone the damn country? Someone in the Order has to be spilling to the dark side!"

"Very astute of you Ginny." He replied, smirking cheerfully.

"You are such a wanker, Potter, how can you laugh at a time like this, we could have been killed!" Ginny groaned, swinging playfully at him.

"Not very likely, those are just the new death eater recruits; most of them wouldn't have stood a chance against the two of us. The biggest problem would have been Lestrange, and I doubt that she would have gotten into the middle of things until she had a clear shot at my back anyway."

"How do you take this so calmly? We were very nearly ambushed!"

"I am fully aware of that, but screaming won't help anything and even if it would, you are doing plenty of that for the both of us."

Ginny blushed, slightly embarrassed at his subtle chiding of her emotional outburst.

"Don't worry Ginny; we'll talk to Dumbledore about it. Together, the three of us should be able to come up with something."

"Okay. How long are we going to be in the area before our next mission?" Ginny asked, her bright brown eyes shining hopefully.

"Oh, I figure about as long as it takes to finish up our report to Dumbledore. After that, we'll be heading in a southward direction from here."

"Oh, okay then, let's get this over with." She sighed dejectedly, not noticing the twinkle that shone in Harry's eyes or the fact that he seemed to be having trouble keeping a straight face.

"Yes, I figured that if you weren't at the Burrow in time for Christmas then Molly would probably string me up."

"I understa- wait, it's not another mission?"

"Nope, I think that we need a break from each others company, we haven't seen much of anyone else we know for several months after all."

"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!" Ginny squealed, hugging Harry around the neck.

"Sure, uh Ginny, we're here." Harry's muffled voice replied from underneath the petite redhead.

* * *

Looking around Ginny saw professor McGonagall watching them, eyebrow raised, her mouth twitching a little at the corners.

"Hey Gin, uh, what's going on?" Harry asked warily as she stormed into the kitchen and took a swig of his butterbeer.

"D'you have _any_ idea how embarrassing it is to get the birds and the bees talk when you're _eighteen_? Damn it! Mum, dad, Bill, _and_ Charlie ganged up on me, there has got to be some sort of unwritten rule about that sort of thing. I'm just glad that Fred and George couldn't make it and Ron refused to participate, I can only imagine what _that_ would have been like. Hell, I don't think I've ever been more embarrassed in my whole life!"

"Oh trust me, I understand completely."

"How-…" Ginny started, confusion evident on her face.

"No, I wish it had been Sirius talked to me about it, I'm sure he would have discovered a way of making it less painful. No, I received 'The Talk' from no less than _nine _different people, all of whom assumed that nobody else would think to do so what with my godfather and both parents dead."

"You're joking! Oh wow, and I thought I got it bad, at least I only had to hear it from my family."

"Yeah, I heard it from your family too, your dad and mum banded together to get both Ron and me when he started dating Hermione – in fact, that was about when Fred and George saw fit to give it to us."

"I'm so sorry, I had no idea. Who else gave you the talk?"

"Well, for the other five talks I didn't even have Ron to share my misery with, they all got me alone. Lets see, there was Remus, of course, and Moody, Tonks, and in what were two of the most embarrassing moments of my life – McGonagall and Dumbledore."

By now Ginny was laughing so hard that Harry wasn't sure she'd be able to go much longer without breathing – she was beginning to look quite purple.

"I…am…so sorry, it…must…have…been…_awful!_" She gasped as she tried to regain her breath.

"Yes, I can feel the sympathy just rolling off of you in waves, wonderful to have such a supporting friend." Harry grumbled good-naturedly.

"Its just that, here I was about to go blow something up over one embarrassing speech, which I cut off as soon as I could, and you had to listen to seven of them!"

"I'm quite sure that Dumbledore did it strictly for his own amusement."

"Yeah, I really can't see them all being so oblivious to each others actions."

"They weren't. D'you want to come with me to see Ron and Hermione or would you rather stay here and blow up a few unsuspecting Order members? I'm sure that with a little luck you could probably get that spy you were telling me about earlier." He replied, folding up the newspaper he had been reading and smirking at her.

"Yeah, pick on the rookie, it's not my fault that you're usually so thick that I feel obligated to point out even the most obvious facts. But yes, I would love to see Ron and Hermione, it's been too long since I've had female company."

"I'm assuming that you meant Hermione?"

"Yes, and you shouldn't pick on your friends when they aren't around to defend themselves; it's so much fun to watch him splutter. I suggest you get a cloak as it's raining really hard out there."

"Okay, I'll meet you in the entrance hall in five?"

* * *

**Another AUTHOR'S NOTE: I didn't realize until I uploaded this that Nimbirosa was right, it really is terribly short, I suppose that this just means that I'll either have to write more chapters more often or else I'll need to just make them a lot longer. Well, with that said: ON TO THE REPLIES… **

**_Nimbirosa: _**My beloved new beta, I do hope that this chapter is an improvement on my previous attempt as it really was pretty bad.

**_Trek_: **Thank you.

**_K3tig:_ **I am very glad that you stumbled across it and decided to review. Your encouragement makes me feel all toasty inside.

**_Ithilrien-Forasel: _**Thank you for your encouragement, I think I will.

**_HP-Scriptor: _**Thank you, your review was very encouraging and if I get the chance I will definitely check out your site. As it is, I might be awhile, term is just ending for me so things are a bit crazy (Damn Algebra and World History!).

**And thank you also to those who added me to their alerts:**

**MadEyeJr**

**Myumi-8805**

**Gautam**

**Nimbirosa**

**Trek**

**ElShabang**

**MargaretB**

**thethelordoftheelves**

**RMRilke**


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